The present invention relates to a tablet dispenser and, more particularly, to a semi-automatic tablet dispenser.
There are various types of conventionally known tablet dispensers in the industry, including automatic and semi-automatic dispensers. U.S. Pat. No. 7,412,302 describes a semi-automatic tablet dispenser including a tubular chamber for storing pharmaceutical units and a hopper. Pharmaceutical units are dispensed from the tubular chamber to the hopper, which temporarily stores the units therein, and then dispenses them into a container. However, because the hopper projects directly from the front face of the tubular chamber, this tablet dispenser unavoidably has a large depth, such that the overall structure of the tablet dispenser is complicated and the overall dimensions are inevitably large.
The semi-automated tablet dispenser of U.S. Pat. No. 6,595,384 is configured such that assorted solid medicines are supplied from a solid medicine supplier to a chute and then are dispensed into bottles. However, because assorted solid medicines are all discharged through the same chute, residue from prior solid medicines may adhere to the chute, causing contamination of the chute. Further, as with the tablet dispenser of the U.S. Pat. No. 7,412,302, the final dispensing operation requires the operator to use two hands, one hand for placing the tablet containers at the dispensing outlet and another hand for holding the tablet containers. For example, for the dispenser of the U.S. Pat. No. 6,595,384, operation of a partitioning plate 27 is required for the dispensing operation.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,644,504 discloses a fully automatic tablet dispenser, configured to automatically dispense tablets and to supply tablet containers. However, in order to automate the supply of the tablet containers, as well as to dispense tablets, the device structure becomes complicated, resulting in higher manufacturing costs.